Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to controllers and user interfaces for arc generation power supplies, such as welding power supplies, plasma cutter power supplies, and the like. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to controllers and associated graphical user interfaces that dynamically depict information in real time and in a visual or graphical manner, and methodologies for adjusting power supply parameters using such controllers and user interfaces.
Description of Related Art
It is well known in the field of welding to adjust the parameters of a welding sequence to achieve a desired result. This may include setting the welding power supply at a specific voltage or current, or at a particular frequency. For some weldments, it may be desirable to achieve deep penetration of the weld joint whereas in another application, power supply settings for deep penetration may damage or destroy the adjoined materials. Accordingly, the operator may adjust one or more welding parameters to match the material and joint configuration for a particular application.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) is one well known type of welding process, known also as Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) are other well known welding processes. Stick welding (SMAW) and submerged arc welding (SAW) are yet other types of welding processes. Each welding process utilizes an electrode through which power is supplied from a welding power supply to establish the welding arc. Examples of welding power supplies include phase controlled, pulse width modulated and inverter power supplies. In certain welding processes, the electrode is consumed, as in the case of GMAW, FCAW and Stick welding. By way of contrast, the electrode for the TIG welding process is non-consumable. In each type of welding, the welding power supply parameters are set to control the weld cycle.
Parameters used to control the welding process include electrode feed rate, current and/or voltage. Some GMAW welding machines also have an inductance control that affects the response of the power source or supply. Other welding parameters may include AC balance where the duty cycle of positive voltage is greater than that of the negative voltage by a particular percentage resulting in shallower arc penetration. The converse may also be true for deeper penetration. Other aspects of the welding process, including arc width, or the kind of arc produced by the welding power supply, are also affected by adjusting the welding sequence or welding profile. Additional parameters used to control the welding process include electrode stickout (i.e., the length that the electrode protrudes from a contact tip), weave length for weave welding, weave shape or pattern, and weave frequency.
For proper control, the operating parameters should be set to optimal settings for a particular application (e.g. gas mixture used, plate thickness and joint type). Prior art welding machines have required the operator to calculate setup parameters from tables or equations. Alternatively, the settings may be set based on welder experience, or by trial and error.
If the welding operator provides erroneous data, or improperly calculates the setup parameters, poor weld quality or inefficient use of the welding machine and consumables may result. Weld quality is therefore dependent upon proper setup of the welding parameters. More experienced operators understand precisely what effects a particular adjustment in the welding profile will have on the weld joint. However, less experienced welders may experiment by adjusting the welding profile in various ways until the desired weld has been achieved. This can result in reduced quality, lost productivity and increased material costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,781,700, issued on Aug. 24, 2010, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a welder user interface that helps an operator to understand how changes in the welding profile will affect the welding process. A graphical display on the welding power supply allows the operator to adjust welding parameters, such as aspects of the welding waveform, and visually observe how such changes will affect the waveform. The graphical display also provides pictographs or icons that show how changes to welding parameters will affect the welding process.
It would be desirable to display intuitive, graphical indications of improper parameter settings to warn an operator of the improper settings and their potential impact on the resulting weld. It would also be desirable to provide the operator with parameter selections and/or adjustments in an intuitive, graphical manner. Welding and plasma cutting operations are often performed automatically by robots, and it would be further desirable to incorporate graphical user controls for both the robot and torch power supply in a single user interface.